KATHMANDU, Aug. 15 (Xinhua) -- Prachanda, Chairman of the Communist Party of Nepal (Maoist) (CPN-M), was elected the first prime minister of the Federal Democratic Republic of Nepal by the Constituent Assembly (CA) on Friday evening.

    Prachanda, meaning "the fierce", is Pushpa Kamal Dahal's party name in the CPN-M.

    Born in Karski District, some 140 km west of Nepali capital Kathmandu, on Dec. 11, 1954, Prachanda spent his school life in Chitwan district, some 85 km south of Kathmandu.

    In 1970s, after receiving a Bachelor of Science in Agriculture from the Institute of Agriculture and Animal Science (IAAS) in Chitwan, Prachanda once worked as a teacher for more than two years in a middle school and was also reportedly devoted to some rural development project in Jajarkot, some 325 km west of Kathmandu.

    During this period of time, he started pursuing communism and joined a communist party.

    In 1990, Prachanda became general secretary of the Nepal Communist Party (Unity Center), which the Communist Party of Nepal(Maoist) was derived from. In the same year, late King Birendra lifted ban on political parties and ushered in constitutional monarchy. However, Prachanda remained underground.

    In 1991, the Unity Center with its parliamentary representation of the United People's Front headed by Baburam Bhattarai participated elections.

    In 1995, the Unity Center was reformed into the CPN-M.

    In February 1996, the CPN-M, under the leadership of Prachanda, launched the People's War for a "people's new democratic republic." The CPN-M formed "the People's Government" in its controlled areas.

    In April 2006, with the support from Prachanda-led CPN-M, the Seven-Party Alliance called on strikes and street protests in capital Kathmandu, forced King Gyanendra to reinstate the parliament and ended his direct rule.

    Two months later, Prachanda for the first time returned Kathmandu to meet for talks with Prime Minister Girija Prasad Koirala. And in November 2006, the Comprehensive Peace Accord (CPA)was signed between the Seven-Party Alliance government and CPN-M, ending the 11-year-long civil war.

    In January 2007, the Interim Parliament was formed, with CPN-M members included, and the Interim Constitution was promulgated. In the next month, Prachanda offered his first public speech in capital Kathmandu and in April that year, the Interim Government, joined by CPN-M ministers, was set up.

    On April 10, 2008, the Constituent Assembly (CA) elections were held across the country. The CPN-M emerged as the single largest party in the Constituent Assembly. With 20,499 votes, nearly twice as many as what his nearest rival bagged, Prachanda was elected from Kathmandu Constituency-10, and with 34,220 votes against nearest competitor's 6,029, he was elected from Rolpa Constituency-2, too.

    On May 28, 2008, Nepal was declared a federal democratic republic at the first CA meeting. Prachanda was elected as the first prime minister of the Republic.